


Heart Stopping

by fenellaevangela



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 16:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21164702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/pseuds/fenellaevangela
Summary: It'sCalwho believes in bigfoot. Robert just came along to be a good sport.





	Heart Stopping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweetcarolanne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/gifts).

Robert stumbled as his hiking boot collided with another tree root, swearing under his breath and hopping gracelessly to try and keep his footing. The absolute last thing he needed on this miserable trip was a sprained ankle or a skinned knee – if he had realized there weren't any trails on Cal's planned route he never would have worn shorts. His shins were already getting scratched up walking through the underbrush.

Robert knew he probably should have paid more attention while he and Calvin were planning their “expedition” - Cal's words – but honestly? It had been hard. Robert loved Cal like a brother, but the man took this whole thing way too seriously. For Robert, going hunting for a bigfoot was just a fun excuse to drive somewhere new and spend the day in the great outdoors, breathing in fresh air and maybe goofing around a bit. But oh no, it turned out that Calvin wanted to do the hunt for real, and all the cryptozoological minutiae he had put into planning had made Robert's eyes glaze over fast. The end result was that he barely knew where they were right now, let alone the exact route Calvin intended their hike to follow. Robert had just been following Cal's lead all day, and trying not to get too bored whenever Cal stopped to collect hair samples or whatever.

But now . . . 

Robert stopped abruptly. Now Cal was nowhere to be seen.

He couldn't spot Cal's bright orange hiking gear ahead of him through the trees. Robert tried to remember how long it had been since he'd checked in on his hiking partner, and felt a sick dread well up inside him as he realized he had no idea. He'd been so caught up in his own head that he hadn't been paying attention – had Calvin taken a turn somewhere and Robert hadn't noticed? He turned around, but there was no tell-tale glimpse of orange in that direction, either. This was bad. This was _bad_. 

When Robert heard the distinctive crack of a twig being crushed underfoot, he had a sudden blinding hope that Calvin had realized they'd been separated and had doubled back. They'd laugh at the mistake and decide to call it a day, everything would be fine . . .

And then Robert turned toward the sound and every thought in his head just stopped.

There was a thing standing among the trees. It wasn't Cal.

At first Robert didn't quite grasp how big the thing was. Well, at the _very_ first his brain could barely admit what it was seeing at all, because it was so clearly and obviously a bigfoot that it seemed unreal. Robert could only stare at it in mute awe as it approached him, and it wasn't until the creature – because it _was_ a living, breathing, real goddamn creature - got close that Robert realized that it was intimidatingly tall. If it was a person, Robert would have considered the creature to be a giant, but what did he know about bigfoot? Probably they were all tall enough to tower over him like this.

Then the creature said, “Lost?” in a deep rumble of a voice and Robert entirely lost his cool. He hadn't thought he had a modicum of cool left to lose, but boy, had he been wrong.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, and propelled himself backwards without thinking – at which point he tripped over _yet another_ tree root and, this time, lost his footing completely.

Robert's heart was pounding in his chest and his fight or flight response was still screaming in the back of his head but he couldn't wrangle his limbs into enough working order to get up off the ground, even as he watched the creature approach him again and then lean, lean, lean all the way down until it could offer him its hand.

“You'll hurt yourself doing that,” it said.

“Is – is this really happening?” Robert said, staring at the long, hairy fingers of the creature's hand. “This can't really be happening. I'm – ahh!”

“Oh, you are hurt. Here.”

Then the creature bent all the way down and Robert panicked again and tried desperately to scramble backwards, out of its reach, but the action sent more shoots of pain through his leg. The creature was right; that fall had given Robert exactly what he'd been worried about – a twisted ankle. Which meant he wouldn't be able to run away, even if he could escape the creature's grasp and pull himself back up to his feet. If this situation was a horror movie Robert would have jeered at the screen about how cliche it all was, but instead all he could focus on was trying not to hyperventilate as the creature wrapped it's huge arms around him and lifted him, bridal style.

Lightheaded from the pain and the panic, Robert's head spun as he was lifted up. And up, and up. It felt keenly vulnerable, being held so far above the ground, and Robert quickly turned his gaze away from the forest floor beneath him.

“I can help you, but not here,” the creature explained. Then it began to walk and, jostled by the movement, Robert instinctively clung closer and ended up nestled into the creature's chest.

The creature's hair was coarse where it touched the bare skin of Robert's arms and legs; it felt rough and prickly against the stubble on his cheek. And there was a – a smell. Robert vaguely remembered Calvin's description of a “skunk ape” and had assumed that was how a bigfoot would smell, but there was something about the scent of the creature that actually made Robert feel just a little bit calmer. In fact, as the creature carried him farther away from the spot they had met, Robert could feel his heart rate slow and his mind clear. Now that he wasn't caught up in the initial burst of shock and panic, he realized that as surreal as his whole situation was, he _probably_ wasn't about to be some wild animal's latest meal.

He did appear to be in the middle of being kidnapped, though. 

“Um, where are you taking me?” It seemed worth asking even if he wasn't sure if he'd get an answer.

“Here,” the creature said, simply. 

'Here' didn't look like much at first, until they ducked through a thicket and found themselves in what looked like a natural cave. It was wide and dry, and Robert could barely believe he was thinking it, but he was pretty sure this was the creature's home. He was in a _bigfoot den_ and Cal was going to be mad jealous if Robert ever got to tell him.

The creature lowered him down onto what might have been a seat, maybe? Robert supposed he wasn't surprised something smart enough to talk would have furniture, for lack of a better word, but whatever it was wasn't made for Robert's proportions and he ended up leaning back on his hands as the creature pulled something out of a corner and leaned over Robert's sore ankle.

“This might hurt,” the creature warned, then lifted Robert's leg slightly, and:

“Oh,” said Robert. “You have _bandages_?”

It was hard to read the creature's face, but Robert was fairly certain that was a smirk.

“Yes. Try not to move.”

Robert tried to do just that, watching the creature as it wrapped the cloth bandages firmly around his ankle and suppressing a wince whenever it pulled them too tight. The process was soothingly rhythmic, and before long Robert found himself relaxed and genuinely enjoying himself as he watched the creature work. This was the closest they had been to eye level yet and Robert had a good view of its face for the first time. It was apelike, he supposed, but hairy – and Robert had a hard time imagining an ape scrunching its eyes up the way the creature did as it worked so hard to make Robert feel better. It was kind of cute, actually. In fact - 

Robert stopped himself mid-thought. This was crazy, right? He'd always been more attracted to bigger guys, sure, and lots of body hair had never bothered him. But this really wasn't the same thing.

Except, hmm.

While the creature was tightening what seemed to be the last bandage, Robert decided to try something.  
He shifted his weight onto one hand and lifted the other – slowly, gradually – and tentatively pressed it against the creature's thick forearm. He caressed it, a little, and – oh no. This wasn't the same, but maybe it was . . . better.

While Robert was trying to wrap his head around that particular revelation, he realized that the creature had stopped wrapping his ankle, and when he looked up – because he'd been staring at its buff, muscley arm, oh god – the creature was looking back at him. For a moment Robert felt like a deer caught in the headlights, but then the creature _smiled_ and the feeling turned to butterflies in his stomach.

The creature cupped Robert's cheek in the palm of its hand, then paused. Robert's heart pounded in his chest, but he knew this wasn't fear. It was anticipation. He gave a shaky nod, and with a curl of its fingers the creature's grip shifted to the back of his head and pulled him in closer. 

Cal was never, ever going to believe this.


End file.
